Hey! Newbie from North Carolina!

[LilyPad]

Hello and welcome to FF, Nathaniel! You have gotten some great advice from Lynn and Carlos. Good luck with your research!

[iloveRanitomeya]

Thank you Lynn, Carlos, and Amy very much! And for quick replies. I actually was not really thinking about getting Ranitomeya to start out raising dart frogs. As you said Lynn they might be too hard for me and the prices for them are probably high compared to other dart frogs. If anyone's interested I have cockroaches (used for feeders and pets) I can trade for a few dart frogs. I do not have much else I could trade, except a few Dynastes tityus larvae and wild caught Lucanus larvae (Trying to breed them. I have not bred them before, or have had females lay eggs, but did not take very good care of them, and was unable to get Oyster Mushroom spawn which grows well on logs for the grubs to eat, I have to gather white rotten logs from the forests.).

I have plenty of terrariums/aquariums that I am not using. I will try to get a terrarium up and running right now.

Lynn: Why do dart frogs die in plastic boxes?

[flybyferns]

Hello again Walter or Nathaniel ?
"Lynn: Why do dart frogs die in plastic boxes?"
Is this a test ?

I suppose they might not die; but how happy could it possible be?
How could it possibly thrive?

Would a captive bred dart frog rather live here:



or here:



I found some images in my mind of plastic boxes (above)
A picture is worth a thousand words.

Below - This is happy and healthy in that same enclosure.
Personally, a very rewarding moment.
I feel fortunate to have a photo of this:


~~Precious~~

[Lija]

The other questions to ask yourself. - Why do I want to have frogs, dart frogs in particular?
If the answer is - I want to have a small piece of nature and enjoy It as such and im ready to commit to supporting it for many many years to come, then it is a no brainer either to do a nice tank or not.
keep in mind, it is an expensive hobby, you might need a vet, you will need to figure out who will take care of it while you go on vacation. Your parents need to be ok with random fruit flies appearing in your house.

I don't want to discourage you, just give you something to think of.

[iloveRanitomeya]

Hi!
Lynn flybyferns: " Hello again Walter or Nathaniel ?
"Lynn: Why do dart frogs die in plastic boxes?"
Is this a test ?

I suppose they might not die; but how happy could it possible be?
How could it possibly thrive? "

I admit that was a test, sorry. lol Either Nathaniel or Walter is fine, though I think I prefer Nathaniel because that is just what I was called when I was much younger.
I want to make an enclosure like what you made in your pictures of your vivarium with the Phyllobates terribilis "Mint" (?).

Lija:
Wow, I thought there were no or very few vets that would actually know things about frogs! I will try to make a nice vivarium for frogs. Yes, I might not be able to support this expensive hobby. I thought it would be cheap to maintain the frogs and the vivarium after I made the vivarium and got the dart frogs. Though the lighting would cost some electricity. And the lighting will heat the vivarium during the daytime to around 75 degrees when the temperature in the room outside the vivarium is around 68F degrees, right? Usually daytime temperatures in our house during the winter is about 70F and drops to 68F during night. I will keep the vivarium in a shady spot in our house so that the sun won't roast the frogs.
Oh, no, you are not discouraging me at all! This is encouraging.

Thank you!

[iloveRanitomeya]

Would it be alright if I add a layer of rocks on the bottom of the vivarium for the drainage? Does forest dirt work well for making a vivarium for dart frogs? I know very little about plants by the way...

[Tongue Flicker]

Hey nathaniel welcome aboard! Don't worry about the plants, we got you covered

[elly]

People can answer this in the vivarium forum, but for soil, if you want plants you can make a mix of things. Sadly dirt from a garden/ forest is likely to have insect eggs, parasites and stuff in it. Most potting soil has chemical fertilizers and shouldn't be used.

You can use rocks for drainage, it'll just make the terrarium heavier and harder to move. There's some light clay-based drainage stuff you can find in garden stores that works. But clean rocks will work too.